When to Quit With Your Online Community

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bigredclaygeorgia
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When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by bigredclaygeorgia »

Should I bother to start a forum community by myself?

I know it takes a year to get active members but should I spend a year of my life on a project that may not work?

Here is the thing. I heard its harder these days to start a community to due to facebook twitter ect.

Before you start a forum is it a MUST to have a few friends in real life to help you?

I AM NOT ATTENTION WHORING but I have 0 friends in real life. (ITS MY OWN FAULT DON”T FEEL SORRY)

But I started a forum in January I have a moderator on it but he is someone I met online not a friend.

He does not post except rarely.

So there are literally 2 active members on my forum.

Also there is a site just like mine but has far more members. (like in the thousands)

I have fake members post as well. But I heard you can get exposed and lose
credibility.

Should I spend a year trying to make a community due to my circumstance?

Or give up BUT IN A HEALTHY WAY.

I mean Hollywood always says follow your dreams blah blah blah but sometimes it is mentally unhealthy to keep continuing something that will not work.


What are some alternatives if I cannot make a forum due to my circumstances?

Thank you very much for your time
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Lumpy Burgertushie
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by Lumpy Burgertushie »

is there a market out there for your board?

what can you offer potential members that is better than the other site that has thousands of members.

if the answer to both of those questions is either no or I don't know, then you are wasting your time.

the whole point is to create a place for people to have discussions about a particular subject matter.

general discussion boards that try to cover every subject under the sun simply do not work any more, there are too many of them.

so, I would suggest that unless your subject matter is something you are passionate about and you are willing to be the only poster for a long time, that you might want to rethink the whole thing.

maybe find a different subject for your board, one that would be interesting to a large number of people, one that you know a lot about and can contribute a lot of content to in the beginning.

robert
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by bigredclaygeorgia »

Lumpy Burgertushie wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 9:47 pm is there a market out there for your board?

what can you offer potential members that is better than the other site that has thousands of members.

if the answer to both of those questions is either no or I don't know, then you are wasting your time.

the whole point is to create a place for people to have discussions about a particular subject matter.

general discussion boards that try to cover every subject under the sun simply do not work any more, there are too many of them.

so, I would suggest that unless your subject matter is something you are passionate about and you are willing to be the only poster for a long time, that you might want to rethink the whole thing.

maybe find a different subject for your board, one that would be interesting to a large number of people, one that you know a lot about and can contribute a lot of content to in the beginning.

robert
well heres the thing my niche is narrow. there is only 1 other forum out there that covers my topic. but the problem is the other forum has all the staff members as best friends/clique. They have a full team of advanced coding geeks, and game servers,and much more. I do not want tons of members I just want a few good active members. (my hosting expenses would go through the roof if I had as much members as that other site lol :) but the thing is my forum is in mybb format and I do not have the technological capabilities to offer what the other forum offers. HOWEVER many ex members were disgruntled with the staff so all I have to offer is that my forum will be run differently to be honest.

But thank you for your your time and I will take to heart your advice :)
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Lumpy Burgertushie
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by Lumpy Burgertushie »

if your board is about gaming then I seriously doubt there is only 1 other about your game etc.

there probably almost as many gaming sites/boards as there are porno site/boards.

never having been a gamer unless you count solitare, I really don't understand the need for all those sites. it's like sports talk radio, how many time and how many different ways can you describe a certain play in a ball game. oh well, I rant....
however, If you really think you can get members , whether from that other board or new ones, then go for it.
there have been quite a few boards that were better run/moderated that others of the same topic and managed to pull all the decent members away from the mismanaged one. it will take time but you never know.

don't start with one of the free forum sites. If your board does go well, and grows, then you would wind up having to lose all the members/posts when you outgrow the free host.

go ahead and get a domain name and a normal hosting account. install phpbb properly and then you will have total control and can move if and when you want to etc.

remember, as long as you have the database, that is the board. the actual files don't matter because you can always replace them with copies from here.
the database is where all the members, forums, topics, posts etc. are located.


luck,
robert
bigredclaygeorgia
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by bigredclaygeorgia »

Lumpy Burgertushie wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 11:26 pm if your board is about gaming then I seriously doubt there is only 1 other about your game etc.

there probably almost as many gaming sites/boards as there are porno site/boards.

never having been a gamer unless you count solitare, I really don't understand the need for all those sites. it's like sports talk radio, how many time and how many different ways can you describe a certain play in a ball game. oh well, I rant....
however, If you really think you can get members , whether from that other board or new ones, then go for it.
there have been quite a few boards that were better run/moderated that others of the same topic and managed to pull all the decent members away from the mismanaged one. it will take time but you never know.

don't start with one of the free forum sites. If your board does go well, and grows, then you would wind up having to lose all the members/posts when you outgrow the free host.

go ahead and get a domain name and a normal hosting account. install phpbb properly and then you will have total control and can move if and when you want to etc.

remember, as long as you have the database, that is the board. the actual files don't matter because you can always replace them with copies from here.
the database is where all the members, forums, topics, posts etc. are located.


luck,
robert
Thank you Robert, but my forum is NOT about gaming it is a pretty narrow niche trust me :)

I do have a proper hosting account where I pay monthly I AM NOT ON THOSE FREE FORUMS ! :)

But this is good advice for newbies I made that same mistake of using free forums. People just blew me off and used my free forum to troll. I may switch to phpbb one day but for now mybb seems okay. though I love phpbb don't get me wrong.

but what would i do about my situation?

Thank you for your time Robert.
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Lumpy Burgertushie
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by Lumpy Burgertushie »

you said earlier that the other board had a full set of coders and game servers....

anyway, you can certainly stay with mybb if you wish, the methods of how to create and maintain a good community don't depend on the software.

1. post on your own board. post often, post relevant content to your niche.

2. check things like forum titles, topic titles for keywords relevant to your niche.

3. try to get a few friends to ask and answer questions. make sure it is not just crap posts, you need relevant content.

4. now, go post on your competition boards/blogs etc. follow their rules about links etc. but when you can, put a link to some of your posts on your own board.

5. make sure that you make it clear how great your board is and how fair your community is or whatever the problems with that other site are, make sure you are the exact opposite and tell people about it in your posts
on your board and on theirs if possible. ( like maybe in your sig file on the other boards including this one here. etc. )

6.go ahead and submit your board to the search engines. it can't hurt even though that does not help as much for SEO as it used to.


remember, this will not happen overnite but if you keep at it and you can create a great community it might work out just the way you want it to.


robert
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by bigredclaygeorgia »

Lumpy Burgertushie wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 11:51 pm you said earlier that the other board had a full set of coders and game servers....

anyway, you can certainly stay with mybb if you wish, the methods of how to create and maintain a good community don't depend on the software.

1. post on your own board. post often, post relevant content to your niche.

2. check things like forum titles, topic titles for keywords relevant to your niche.

3. try to get a few friends to ask and answer questions. make sure it is not just crap posts, you need relevant content.

4. now, go post on your competition boards/blogs etc. follow their rules about links etc. but when you can, put a link to some of your posts on your own board.

5. make sure that you make it clear how great your board is and how fair your community is or whatever the problems with that other site are, make sure you are the exact opposite and tell people about it in your posts
on your board and on theirs if possible. ( like maybe in your sig file on the other boards including this one here. etc. )

6.go ahead and submit your board to the search engines. it can't hurt even though that does not help as much for SEO as it used to.

remember, this will not happen overnite but if you keep at it and you can create a great community it might work out just the way you want it to.


robert
Thank you very much Robert your advice is good and I will take heart to it but their are issues with your suggestion #3 and #4 for number 3 I unfortunately have no friends.

BUT HOW WOULD I FIX THIS?

For number 4 I was banned from the competor site for making a forum of the same niche ( i didn't even talk about it on the rival site I talked about my new forum offsite and they banned me.

BUT ANYWAYS Sorry to go on a tangent how do I solve those issues?

thank you for your time robert :)
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Lumpy Burgertushie
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by Lumpy Burgertushie »

#4. I don't see how you can solve that issue, after all, you do want to take their members from them if you can.
:D

#3. family members? go to fiverr.com hire some posters.

find some other sites/boards that compliment yours in general, post there etc.

robert
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by AmigoJack »

bigredclaygeorgia wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:21 pmI have 0 friends in real life. (ITS MY OWN FAULT DON”T FEEL SORRY)
That pretty much sums up your problem: you want to maintain something, not just be a member. Yet, you think the online world has other rules when in the end it's only used by real life people as well.

Online you might be more interesting than offline, but not necessarily. I'd say in the internet it's even less likely that you're just standing there and others start to talk to you.
bigredclaygeorgia wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:21 pmI have fake members post as well.
Stop that. Yet I have to see a board where this improved anything. Do it only if it really enjoys you - if it's only a task or even a nuisance to you then just quit it immediately.
bigredclaygeorgia wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:21 pmHollywood always says follow your dreams
I've never seen that place associated with that phrase - do you have a source?
bigredclaygeorgia wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:21 pmsometimes it is mentally unhealthy to keep continuing something that will not work
"work" is exactly the vague term that is wrong in here: if by that you mean "I want members" then yes. However, if by that you mean "maintaining the board is a joy to me" then no. Don't break it down to one thing - always try to see it from multiple angles.
bigredclaygeorgia wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:21 pmalternatives
Findind (an)other place(s) where you enjoy putting your time and energy into. As in real life: this is about trial and error instead of instantly hitting the right spot.


Oh, and stop full quoting posts. Why do people this anyway?
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david63
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by david63 »

If you have to ask this question then the answer is probably that you should have already quit!
bigredclaygeorgia
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by bigredclaygeorgia »

AmigoJack wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2017 7:19 am
bigredclaygeorgia wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:21 pmI have 0 friends in real life. (ITS MY OWN FAULT DON”T FEEL SORRY)
That pretty much sums up your problem: you want to maintain something, not just be a member. Yet, you think the online world has other rules when in the end it's only used by real life people as well.

Online you might be more interesting than offline, but not necessarily. I'd say in the internet it's even less likely that you're just standing there and others start to talk to you.
bigredclaygeorgia wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:21 pmI have fake members post as well.
Stop that. Yet I have to see a board where this improved anything. Do it only if it really enjoys you - if it's only a task or even a nuisance to you then just quit it immediately.
bigredclaygeorgia wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:21 pmHollywood always says follow your dreams
I've never seen that place associated with that phrase - do you have a source?
bigredclaygeorgia wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:21 pmsometimes it is mentally unhealthy to keep continuing something that will not work
"work" is exactly the vague term that is wrong in here: if by that you mean "I want members" then yes. However, if by that you mean "maintaining the board is a joy to me" then no. Don't break it down to one thing - always try to see it from multiple angles.
bigredclaygeorgia wrote: Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:21 pmalternatives
Findind (an)other place(s) where you enjoy putting your time and energy into. As in real life: this is about trial and error instead of instantly hitting the right spot.


Oh, and stop full quoting posts. Why do people this anyway?
sorry to full qoute i'll STOP AFTER THIS I PROMISE :D

you but what are alternatives to using fake members?

i mean correct me if i am wrong but don't forums need lots of content daily, but if you have no members you can't get daily content in order to advance so aren't you stuck in a vicious circle without fake members?

just curious what are alternatives to fake members?

Thank you for your time :)
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by KevC »

bigredclaygeorgia wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2017 3:04 pm just curious what are alternatives to fake members?
Lots of info here.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=362219

I personally don't have a problem with a couple of fakes just to get it going. People don't join boards with no content. As soon as I had a couple of real members posting I stopped using them. Nobody noticed.

Getting a board going is by far the hardest part of it. Unless you have a ready made audience gagging to join you need to play some games to get it going.
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Lumpy Burgertushie
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by Lumpy Burgertushie »

you are the answer to getting good content without using fake members or even having any members.

you are the one that can post good relevant content day after day after day . after a while, google will pick up your board as being a good source of information about your subject matter.

then you will get more visitors, more visitors that like your content will mean they will sign up to be able to post.

and on and on and on.


robert
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by bigredclaygeorgia »

Lumpy Burgertushie wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2017 5:30 pm you are the answer to getting good content without using fake members or even having any members.

you are the one that can post good relevant content day after day after day . after a while, google will pick up your board as being a good source of information about your subject matter.

then you will get more visitors, more visitors that like your content will mean they will sign up to be able to post.

and on and on and on.


robert
tru i added another relvant forum to my community

Would it help if I add a games plugin? where users can play games because in the thread about attracting members. One person said adding games helps attract people. would this help a little? or should I not bother?

thx :)
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Lumpy Burgertushie
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Re: When to Quit With Your Online Community

Post by Lumpy Burgertushie »

personally I wouldn't bother unless your board is about games or unless you are trying to attract children etc.


robert
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